Sievwright grew up in suburban Toronto; his parents are Jamaican immigrants.[1] After high school, he took a job as an apprentice carpenter, and learned how to frame houses.[1] In his early 20s, he lived on a British Columbia commune where he built his own tiny home shelter.[1]
In September 2020,[2] Sievwright began building homeless shelters and placing them in parks and ravines in Toronto.[3][4] The small shelters cost about $1,000 CAD to build.[5][6] The shelters included insulation, aVapor barrier, acarbon monoxide detector and a lock.[7]
In November 2020, the City of Toronto wrote to Sievwright, demanding that he "immediately cease the production, distribution, supply and installation" of the shelters.[5][8] A petition started by Sievwright in response to the City's letter garnered over 80,000 signatures.[7]
In January 2021, Sievwright launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $200,000 CAD to construct more of the shelters.[9][10]
In February 2021, the City filed an injunction to stop the construction of the shelters, which take the form of very smalltiny homes.[5][10] Critics of Seivwright's shelters, including the City of Toronto, have said that the homes do not represent a long-term solution to homelessness.[11]
As of April 2021, Sievwright had built over 100 of the shelters, with a crew of 40 volunteers.[1]
